Week 8 of the college basketball polls have been released and Providence moved in both polls, though they moved in different directions. The Friars won their only game on the schedule last week at UMass and it was in blowout fashion. Kris Dunn returned to the lineup after missing 2.5 games with illness and Ben Bentil had a career-high 32 points to go with 12 rebounds for his 3rd double-double of the season. Bentil was named Big East Player of the Week for that performance against the Minutemen. This is the first time Providence has been ranked in the AP Poll for 5 straight weeks since the 2003-04 season when the Friars spent the final 8 weeks ranked in the AP Top 25. The Friars dropped a couple spots to 12th in the AP Poll and slid up one spot to 13th in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll this week.

Continue reading Weekly College Basketball Polls Update: December 28th →

Week 7 of the college basketball polls have been released and Providence is moving up again after a 1-0 week with a win over Rider on Saturday and some losses from teams ahead of the Friars in last week’s poll.  Providence was again without Kris Dunn (illness) and Ryan Fazekas (mono). This is the first time Providence has been ranked in the AP Poll for 4 straight weeks since the 2003-04 season when the Friars spent the final 8 weeks ranked in the AP Top 25. The Friars slid up slightly to 10th in the AP Poll and remained at 14th in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll this week. 10th is the highest Providence has been in the AP poll since 1978.

Continue reading Weekly College Basketball Polls Update: December 21st →

Week 6 of the college basketball polls have been released and Providence is moving up again after a 2-0 week that included wins over teams the Friars should beat in ACC bottom-feeding Boston College and now 2-9 Bryant.  Providence was depleted in both games with Ryan Fazekas missing both (mono), Kris Dunn missing the second half of Boston College and the entire Bryant game (illness) and Ben Bentil missing the second half of BC (ankle). This is the first time Providence has been ranked in the AP Poll for 3 straight weeks since the 2003-04 season when the Friars spent the final 8 weeks ranked in the AP Top 25. The Friars slid up slightly to 14th in the AP Poll and 14th in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll this week.

Continue reading Weekly College Basketball Polls Update: December 14th →

Week 5 of the college basketball polls have been released and Providence is moving on up after a 2-0 week that included a thrilling win on the road at in-state rival Rhode Island.  The Friars also defeated Hartford handily at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center to start the week after making their debut in both polls for the first time since March 2015. Providence debuted in the AP Poll at 23rd and 24th in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll last week. They are now 15th in the AP Poll and 18th in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll this week.

Continue reading Weekly College Basketball Polls Update: December 7th →

This is officially Week 4 of the college basketball polls and it also happens to be the week Providence makes their 2015-16 debut in both the AP Poll and the USA Today Coaches’ Poll. The Friars had a 3-1 week that included an impressive showing in the Wooden Legacy Tournament. They defeated NJIT on Monday night before heading out West to take on Evansville in the tournament opener.

Continue reading Weekly College Basketball Polls Update: November 30th →